Description: The Governor of Virginia, Ralph S. Northam, the Virginia Board of Education and the Virginia Department of Education recognize November 2018 as Family Engagement In Education Month in the Commonwealth and encourage local school officials to develop plans and policies to enhance parental engagement in their children’s schools, lives, and in the education community. The attachments listed below include: The Governor's Certificate of Recognition (November 2018 as Family Involvment in...

Description: All children, with or without a disability, can learn to read and should have equal access to quality instruction. No single category of disability should be prioritized above others. Even as countries are still building programs, policies and structures towards the transition from a segregated educational system to one that promotes inclusion, it is important that the foundations for inclusion are progressively and responsibly realized so all students can learn. This toolkit adheres to...

Description: The National Association of School Psychologists and the National Association of School Resource Officers have partnered to provide this guidance on armed assailant training. We received input from Safe and Sound Schools: A Sandy Hook Initiative and the ALiCE Training Institute. This document provides guidance on the important factors schools must take into account when considering and choosing to conduct armed assailant drills. It does not constitute an endorsement of a particular approach to...

Description: A number of school divisions have asked for clarification regarding the testing requirements under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the 2017 revision to the Standards of Accreditation (SOA). Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Under ESSA, students must be tested in reading and mathematics annually in grades 3-8 and once in high school (grades 9-12). In science, students must be tested once in elementary school, once in middle school, and once in high school. Students may meet the...

Description: The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) will offer the Early Childhood Education Leaders Communities of Learning for Inclusive Programs. The purpose of the Communities of Learning (CoL) is to deliver targeted technical assistance and professional development to leaders in early childhood and will focus on building and maintaining high-quality early childhood inclusive programs. The online CoL will lead participants through The Preschool Inclusion Toolbox: How to Build and Lead a High-Quality...

Description: As communicated to school divisions in Superintendent’s Memorandum #223-18, dated August 17, 2018, the Virginia Substitute Evaluation Program (VSEP) is no longer available to students beginning with the 2018-2019 school year. To provide students who previously participated in VSEP with additional opportunities to earn verified credits, the Virginia Board of Education adopted revisions to the Guidelines for Standard Diploma Credit Accommodations for Students with Disabilities at its meeting...

Description: This conference will focus on promoting and supporting the implementation of evidence-based practices in inclusive settings for infants, toddlers, and young children, both with and without disabilities. Sessions must be aligned with the Division for Early Childhood's Recommended Practices which provide guidance to practitioners and families about the most effective ways to improve the learning outcomes and promote the development of young children who have or are at-risk for developmental delays...

Description: The Inclusive Practices (Inclusion) webpage has been designed to provide information and resources to assist in the development of school and community-based programs for students with disabilities, especially those with more significant academic and behavior needs to have greater access to inclusive education with their peers in general education settings. Two of the highlights of the site are the posting of the “Inclusive Practice Partnership Project” products and the announcement...

Description: In response to the 2018 General Assembly, the VDOE created this plan to help ensure that the VPI, which serves nearly 18,000 at-risk children across 1,300 classrooms, provides a high-quality preschool experience that helps prepare each 4-year-old served for kindergarten. The plan aggregates lessons learned from the JLARC study, Virginia Preschool Initiative Plus implementation, and University of Virginia – Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL). As requested by the...

Description: This memorandum will address certain school division responsibilities under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), a federal law that reauthorized the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. In general, it enhances the Virginia Department on Aging and Rehabilitative Services’ (DARS) role as a secondary transition partner with school divisions. Through Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS), DARS will provide additional supports and services to students with disabilities, and...

Description: Navigating the holidays can be hard for many kids with learning and attention issues. Kids often face demands during the holidays that they might not normally face. Large gatherings. Long meals. Interactions with different people in new situations. And for some, there are unspoken (or even spoken) comparisons to other kids. These demands don’t only make holidays stressful. They can also lead to behavior issues. One way to avoid problem behavior is to help your child...

Description: This Self-Assessment provides a list of Quality Indicators of Co-Teaching and an opportunity to indicate your perception of the implementation of these indicators in your school/classroom. It looks at Administrative Support, Interaction of Co-Teachers, and Evalution of Co-Teaching Effectiveness.

Description: The University of Virginia is offering a variety of online one- and three-credit courses for teachers that may be used for professional development and licensure renewal points. One-credit course topics include: an introduction to English learners for educators, emotional and behavioral disorders, learning disabilities, IEPs, and dyslexia.

Description: The VDOE created an instructional website, Virginia's First People Past and Present, which is a guide for teaching the history, geography and economic systems of Virginia Indians, both past and present. In addition, The Virginia Indians: Meet the Tribes includes an introduction to the rich history and culture of Virginia's native peoples. In addition, there is a Meet the Tribes student activity book.

Description: Time and again, research confirms students succeed when their families are involved with their education. When you hear the words 'family involvement,' what comes to mind? Maybe you think of all the ways families have shown up in the building, or how they read to their students each night. While these are important things for families to do, some will never get involved using only these strategies. So, how do you get more families participating in what you're doing at school? In a word:...

Description: 9 Steps to Respite Care for Grandfamilies will help you have a better understanding of the resources that are available, what you can expect and how to select a high-quality service that best meets the needs of your family. This fact sheet outlines nine simple steps to help you assess your own needs, identify the different types of respite, and provide information on how to find and pay for services. The information provided will also help you plan and make the most of your...

Description: Can I receive the credit if I adopted a child from another country? Yes, once the adoption is legally finalized, either in your child’s home country or in the US, you can claim your qualified adoption expenses, up to the maximum. Is the adoption tax credit for all adoptions or just special needs? Can I receive the credit if I adopted a healthy child? What kinds of adoptions benefit from the tax credit? The adoption tax credit is for all adoptions (international, domestic private, and...

Description: The aim of a trauma-informed classroom is to infuse an understanding of the impact of trauma and adverse life experiences on students into the classroom culture and promote a physically and psychologically safe environment to foster student growth. More specifically, psychological safety refers to individuals’ inner sense that they are safe because of their ability to feel capable of managing stressors or connecting with someone else who can help the individual manage stressors that...

Description: Project Lifesaver is a 501 (C)(3) community based, public safety, non-profit organization that provides law enforcement, fire/rescue, and caregivers with a program designed to protect, and when necessary, quickly locate individuals with cognitive disorders who are prone to the life threatening behavior of wandering. The necessity of this program was determined through the correlation between cognitive conditions and the act of wandering. With the dramatic increase of cognitive conditions...

Description: CTD Quick Takes: Executive Function Apps In this CTD Quick Takes video, you’ll learn about executive function (EF) and a range of apps that can help students with EF challenges. CTD Quick Takes: Wearables as Supports for Executive Functioning This Quick Takes video provides even more information about the skills associated with executive function and illustrates wearable technology devices to strengthen those skills. AT and App Support for Executive Function:...

Description: Executive Function Skills at Work: How Technology Can Help This short Transition Tech Talk offers helpful tips and technology tools to support executive function skills at work. The video discusses skills essential to workplace success including: arriving on time, completing tasks as directed, staying focused, and having an organized work space. Getting Started: Executive Function Skills at Work This step-by-step guide provides an overview of tools and strategies for executive function skills...

Description: The Let’s Participate! project, funded by the Office of Special Education Programs, was designed to help infants, toddlers and preschoolers with disabilities participate more fully in everyday activities through the use of assistive technology (AT). Let's Partcipate's newly revamped website is chock-full of information on using AT with young children. Build Your Assistive Technology Program Grow Your Assistive Technology Program Please check...

Description: In this video, which can be viewed in segments, teachers of students with a range of learning needs discuss the ways in which assistive technology can help. Teachers provide examples of low- to high-tech tools that are easily integrated into a classroom environment. This video is also available in Spanish.

Description: Beginning at age 14, or sooner if the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team determines that it is appropriate, transition planning becomes the foundation for the development of the IEP. Transition planning begins with exploring interests and preferences to identify the student’s goals for postsecondary training, employment, and independent living. The IEP team needs to design transition services and activities that allow students to explore careers as part of their educational...

Description: The goal of this site is to provide information and resources for teaching and working with children who have complex learning challenges. Specifically, the site is designed for individual state deaf-blind projects, teachers, family members and related services providers interested in beginning or enhancing literacy instruction for children who have combined vision and hearing loss. Contributors reviewed literacy development literature, as well as literature related to literacy learning for:...

Description: Teachers and administrators at K–12 schools recognize the positive impact of parent engagement on student achievement, so many schools and districts now leverage technology to power better and more meaningful relationships with parents and families. Educational research group Pearson reports that there’s increasing awareness and recognition among teachers and administrators that traditional parent-teacher conferences yield limited results, particularly...

Description: The purpose of the Guidelines for Working with Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired in Virginia Public Schools is to provide information for the provision of services to students who are blind or visually impaired to support their educational goals. These Guidelines provide a resource of suggestions for implementing services; they are not regulatory. They are written for any individual interested in serving the educational needs of students who are blind or visually impaired or...

Description: This paper begins with a challenge, namely: How do we work with families and communities to co-create the next generation of family and community engagement, providing equitable learning pathways—both in and out of school and from birth to young adulthood—that will enable all children to be successful in the 21st century? Exploring what it takes to meet this challenge, the document looks at what we have learned over the past 50 years of research and policy as well as the need for...

Description: This guide aims to help parents like you understand the flexibility provided to States and school districts in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, a landmark Federal education law. We know that parents are the most important advocates for their children. Because States and school districts have significant flexibility in how they meet the requirements of the law, you have an opportunity to influence how they use that flexibility to...

Description: NCII is housed at the American Institutes for Research, and works in conjunction with many of our nation's most distinguished data-based individualization (DBI) experts. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and is part of OSEP's Technical Assistance and Dissemination Network (TA&D). The Mission of the NCII is to build capacity of state and local education agencies, universities, practitioners, and other stakeholders to support...

Description: The purpose of this discussion guide is to help IEP teams make informed decisions about whether intervener services are appropriate for a particular student. Why Intervener Services May Be Needed Students who are deaf-blind have absent, partial, or distorted vision and hearing. Deaf-blindness severely limits access to visual and auditory information that forms the basis for learning and communication and creates challenges for educational systems mandated to provide a free and...

Description: Milestones matter! Track your child’s milestones from age 2 months to 5 years with CDC’s easy-to-use illustrated checklists; get tips from CDC for encouraging your child’s development; and find out what to do if you are ever concerned about how your child is developing. From birth to age 5, your child should reach milestones in how he or she plays, learns, speaks, acts, and moves. Photos and videos in this app illustrate each milestone and make tracking them for your child easy...

Description: Position Statement: Facilitated Communication It is the position of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) that Facilitated Communication (FC) is a discredited technique that should not be used. There is no scientific evidence of the validity of FC, and there is extensive scientific evidence—produced over several decades and across several countries—that messages are authored by the "facilitator" rather than the person with a disability. Furthermore, there is...

Description: Legislation enacted July 1, 2018, directed the Virginia Department of Education to define “aggravating circumstances” concerning suspension of students. The Virginia Department of Education staff and multiple stakeholder groups collaborated to create the following definition: For the purposes of §22.1-277 and §22.1-277.05 of the Code of Virginia, “aggravating circumstances” shall mean: ...

Description: Bus drivers and transportation staff work directly with students with autism and are responsible for their and others' safety during the routes. Drivers and assistants are the first faces students see in the morning and the last ones in the afternoon. They are critical liaisons between home and school and often have more interaction with parents than other school staff. Beyond simply driving, transportation staff are in charge of managing behavior, implementing accommodations, and collaborating...

Description: Giving your child with ADHD a cell phone can be risky. Kids with ADHD can be impulsive or distractible. They may have trouble with time management. Having a cell phone contract is a good way to manage some of the challenges these issues may create. It can also help you make sure you and your child both know your responsibilities for the phone. What Is a Cell Phone Contract? A cell phone contract is an agreement that outlines what you and your child will do to make sure she takes care...

Description: Virginia’s on-time graduation rate improved by a half point as more than nine out of ten students who entered the ninth grade in 2014 earned a diploma within four years, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) reported today. Fifty-two percent of the students in the class or 2018 graduated with advanced diplomas. Of the 97,961 students in the class of 2018, 91.6 percent earned a Board of Education-approved diploma, compared with 91.1 percent of the 2017 cohort. The increase equates to...

Description: The Department of Medical Assistance Services plays a critical role in providing health care coverage to low-income children, older adults, individuals with disabilities and pregnant women. There are nearly 400,000 uninsured Virginians eligible for new cost-effective health care options through the same modern and efficient management that is serving the Commonwealth well today.

Description: Schools play a significant role in supporting the health and well-being of children and youth, including those affected by traumatic experiences. In a trauma-sensitive school, all aspects of the educational environment—from workforce training to engagement with students and families to procedures and policies—are grounded in an understanding of trauma and its impact and are designed to promote resilience for all. The Trauma-Sensitive Schools Training Package offers...

Description: We are a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting foster, kinship, and adoptive families of children and youth with disabilities and other special needs. We serve families, educators and child welfare professionals in the Northern Virginia area. Formed Families Forward’s mission is to improve developmental, educational, social, emotional and post-secondary outcomes for children and youth with disabilities and other special needs through provision of information, training and support...

Description: This Formed Families Resource Directory provides information about programs and services offered in Northern Virginia to support families formed by adoption, foster care and kinship care who are raising children and youth with disabilities and other special needs. This directory is provided as a free service to individuals and other organizations and agencies. It covers the areas of Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, and Prince William County. Some entries are listed...

Description: Six of Virginia's VPI+ divisions have graciously agreed to open their doors to visitors this school year. Showcase PreK in VA, is a unique opportunity for selected VPI+ programs to share promising practices in a particular learning focus area and to foster collaborative learning networks across the Commonwealth. One of the programs, Giles County, will be showcasing "Building Systems for Collaboration and Inclusion of Children with Disabilities." Showcase PreK in VA...

Description: The revisions to the Standards of Accreditation (SOA) express the Board of Education’s vision of continuous improvement for all schools and for student outcomes aligned with the expectations of higher education and employers. Impact on Schools School Accountability The revised SOA provides a more comprehensive view of school quality and expands accountability beyond pass rates on Standards of Learning (SOL) tests and high school graduation and completion. Under the revised standards:...

Description: Virginia’s revised graduation requirements maintain high expectations for learning in English, math, science and history/social science while reducing the number of Standards of Learning (SOL) tests students must pass to earn a high school diploma. The new standards also implement the “Profile of a Virginia Graduate,” which describes the knowledge, skills, attributes and experiences identified by employers, higher education and the state Board of Education as critical for...

Description: The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015, and represents good news for our nation’s schools. This bipartisan measure reauthorizes the 50-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the nation’s national education law and longstanding commitment to equal opportunity for all students. The new law builds on key areas of progress in recent years, made possible by the efforts of educators, communities, parents, and students...

Description: The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is pleased to announce free, online non-credit courses being offered by the University of Virginia (UVA) in the fall of 2018 and the spring of 2019 for teachers teaching Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) students during the 2018-2019 school year. The Virginia Preschool Initiative teachers in school divisions that have not received federal VPI+ grant funds will have first priority for enrollment in these online courses. Both courses are...

Description: The Profile of a Virginia Graduate describes the knowledge, skills, experiences and attributes that students must attain to be successful in college and/or the work force and to be “life ready.” In developing the profile, the Board of Education determined that a life-ready Virginia graduate must: Achieve and apply appropriate academic and technical knowledge (content knowledge); Demonstrate productive workplace skills, qualities, and behaviors (workplace skills); Build connections...

Description: Parents of children with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities are accustomed to paying close attention to their child's physical, cognitive, and emotional development. This proactive approach should also include their child's sexual development, which for many parents may not seem as obvious or urgent, especially to those with young children. Drawing on her unique background as both a sexual educator and mother of a child with Down syndrome, the author blends factual...

Description: As part of a broader statewide effort to unify early childhood – including pre-K, Head Start, and child care – Virginia is focusing on measuring and strengthening classroom interactions in 2018-2019. Young learners who benefit from high quality classroom interactions and instruction are more likely to enter kindergarten ready, putting them on track for success in school and beyond. To support pre-K classrooms, the 2018 Virginia General Assembly appropriated funds through the Virginia...